Entering their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park, the Milwaukee Brewers seemingly had everything going for them.

The first-place Brewers had dominated the season series against Pittsburgh, winning 10 of 13 games. The Pirates staggered into town with seven losses in eight games and appeared on the verge of playing their way out of the National League Central race.

So, what happened with all of that supposedly in the Brewers' favor? They played consecutive stinkers, and just like that, you couldn't tell which team was the one in trouble at the start of the series.

In a game that turned ugly in a flash, the Pirates scored eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings Saturday night and cruised to a second lopsided victory in a row over the Brewers, 10-2.

The third consecutive defeat chopped the Brewers' lead in the NL Central to one game over St. Louis, pending the outcome of the Cardinals' extra-inning game in Philadelphia. Pittsburgh jumped back into the discussion, just four games back.

"I'm surprised that we played two games like this against anybody," said manager Ron Roenicke, whose club fell to 35-31 at home. "When you don't play good baseball, it doesn't matter if it's Pittsburgh or anybody. These guys are a good team.

"What bothers me is not playing good baseball. I say it a lot. It doesn't matter who it is or who it's against. You don't ever want to play this kind of ball. (Friday) was worse than today, but there are too many things we're not doing right that we know we need to do continuing on."

The game got off to a promising start for the Brewers, who led, 2-0, after three innings behind Wily Peralta, who was vying for a major-league-best 16th victory this season. But, in a sequence that resembled his rookie year more than his breakthrough 2014 season, Peralta melted down and allowed the Pirates to take control of the game.

How quickly did the game turn on Peralta? He had a 2-0 lead with two outs in the fourth inning, nobody on base and no hits allowed. Yet, Peralta was done after five innings, having allowed seven hits, three walks and eight runs (seven earned), including three home runs.

Two of the homers came off the bat of the slump-ridden Pedro Alvarez, who had not hit one since before the all-star break.

"He's always dangerous. If you make bad pitches, he's a good mistake hitter, which major-leaguers usually are," Roenicke said. "This guy can do a lot of damage. He's always dangerous."

There was no reason to expect a collapse from Peralta with the Brewers holding an early lead. He came into the game on a hot streak, with a 6-1 record and 1.59 earned run average over his previous seven outings.

"I thought he was throwing the ball well," Roenicke said. "He came out the first three innings and looked good. Then, we get two quick outs (in the fourth inning) and it opens up."

The Brewers' offense did its part in the one-sided defeat, also, by failing to take advantage of many early scoring opportunities against Pittsburgh starter Edinson Volquez. Despite allowing 11 hits, two walks and a hit batter in 5 2/3 innings, Volquez surrendered only two runs as the Brewers stranded 11 runners, including eight in scoring position.

Scooter Gennett gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead with a leadoff homer in the second inning, turning on a 0-2 fastball that Volquez didn't get far enough inside. But a chance for a much bigger inning went by the board.

Khris Davis was hit by a pitch and raced to third on Lyle Overbay's single up the middle, outracing shortstop Jody Mercer on the Pirates' infield shift. Overbay moved to second on the throw to third, leaving runners on second and third with no outs.

Volquez stranded those runners by getting Elian Herrera to fly out to shallow center, striking out Peralta on three pitches and retiring Carlos Gomez on a weak grounder to short.

With two down in the Brewers' third inning, Aramis Ramirez and Gennett produced back-to-back hits, setting the stage for Davis' RBI double — a liner into the gap in left-center. Volquez prevented further damage by retiring Overbay on a fly to deep center, leaving the Brewers with a 2-0 lead.

Peralta had two outs and nobody on in the fourth inning when things took an ugly turn. Neil Walker drew a walk, Russell Martin poked a double into the left-field corner for Pittsburgh's first hit and Alvarez followed with an opposite-field home run to left to put the Pirates on top, 3-2.

The Brewers had their chance to retaliate in the bottom of the inning when they loaded the bases with one out against Volquez. But Ryan Braun popped out and Ramirez struck out, letting the Pirates' starter off the hook.

Before the night was done, the Brewers would strand 13 runners, in large part because they went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

"We definitely had our chances," Roenicke said. "Our big boys were up when we needed them up. They got the big hits and we didn't.

"They outplayed us. That's all there is to it."

Things got completely out of hand in the fifth when the Pirates rallied for five runs to blow open the game, 8-2. It started with a one-out error by Gennett and infield hit by Andrew McCutchen, followed by Walker's RBI double, a three-run homer by Martin and yet another opposite-field homer by Alvarez.

"I started falling behind (in the count) and gave up some home runs," said Peralta, whose ERA went from 3.27 to 3.56. "I had the lead and wasn't able to maintain it. This is an important series for us, and if I get the lead early, I'm supposed to stop it right then and give the team a chance to win."

Yovani Gallardo and Peralta entered the series throwing the ball well but were roughed up by the Pirates, who scored 18 runs on 23 hits in the first two games. That leaves it to red-hot Mike Fiers and an erratic offense to try to salvage one game on Sunday.

"It's not hard to believe. We got beat. That's it," centerfielder Carlos Gomez said. "The last two games, we didn't play well. They did and they take the 'W' and go home happy. Tomorrow is another day and we have to come out strong."

About Tom Haudricourt

Tom Haudricourt covers the Brewers and Major League Baseball. He was voted Wisconsin Sports Writer of Year for 2011 and 2012 by National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.